Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Ok, so I've made some changes to the blog. Some I like that blogger did, others will take me weeks to correct. Anyways, I am adding stuff to fit my "new life" as a Stay At Home Mom.

One thing you will notice is new music. This is only temporary as I love this song right now. It was used as a promo for my new FAVORITE Addicted show - MOONLIGHT. It is a must for DH and me to see on Friday nights.

Baby is crying - more later!!

Update -

Ok, Joshua has had his bath and is swaddled, rocked, sang to and is sleeping with his daddy while I stay up cleaning up the house from dinner. THis is pretty much my only "me" time as Joshua takes up all of my day and night.

You might be thinking - wow, she watches a lot of tv. Yep. I know I am probably putting a bad light on SAHMs right now, but currently my 9 week old only eats, poops, and rarely sleeps - at least during the day. He can not entertain himself for long periods of time right now - but it is getting better. So, since I am breastfeeding (and bottle feeding) I can't do much else then sit and watch. I've tried reading, but sometimes my little one likes to "play" with his food and it is distracting looking back and forth between the book and him.

Well, have to get to work so that I can get some sleep before the little wakes up for his early morning snack!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

On October 15th, our Second Anniversary, Joe and I went to the OBGYN for another ultrasound. The doctor scheduled us for a c-section for Thursday, October 18th as he was 41+ weeks gestation and had not engaged and seemed to be perfectly content to stay inside. We were dissapointed, but ok with the decision.

That evening, Joe and I celebrated at 82 Queen, where we had our wedding reception and where we eat dinner on each anniversary. After dinner, we walked a little bit up King Street and then went home after I started feeling unwell.

When we got home, I went upstairs to work and Joe was downstairs working. Around Midnight, I emailed my boss and said I was done working for the evening and was going to bed and hoping the baby would calm down. When I hit the mattress, I started having weird pains. They were not like the Braxton Hicks pains I had had previously. Finally at 2:30, I couldnt' take it anymore and took a bath and got Joe to get up and bring me the cd player and I started listening to the Hypnobabies cds. I was able to relax enough to lay back down. Joe was zonked. I laid next to him and for each contraction I put his hand on my head as that was one of my "relax" cues. After each one, I would turn his wrist to see his watch to see what time it was and how far apart they were.

At 5:00 am, and with only the dozing between contractions, I got up and called my mother who immediately told me to contact the doctor on call. I did so and the doctor told me to go to the hospital, do not pass go and do not collect $200.

So called mom back and woke up Joe at 5:30. We showered, dressed and finished packing and loading the car. We got to the hospital at 7:00 am (I took my time to wait for my doctor to come on duty and there was rush hour traffic). I got to our room and they hooked me up to teh monitors. The Doctor B came in and checked me. I was 70% effaced and 1 cm and baby was still high. She told me that we could try laboring, so I said ok. She said she would be back at lunchtime.

I was allowed to get up and walk around for 30 minutes and afterwards, hooked to the monitors for 30 minutes. While being monitored I used Joe's laptop and worked on my work. After walking when they hooked me up to the monitors, the baby had some drastic heart decelerations. When Doctor B came back at lunchtime, the baby had another deceleration and I saw the concern on her face. I was 80% effaced and still 1 cm. She was leaving as it was her half day and left me in the hands of one of her partners.

After having another episode in the afternoon, I was confined to the bed. I was also put in some very awkward positions to help the baby's heartbeat. Labor was intensifying for me and was becoming increasingly painful as I was not able to move and relax through the contractions.

Around 6:00, Dr. W came in to check on me. Before she came in, Joe, my mom, the nurses and I had a chat about what to do. I had been in labor for 18 hours. I was convinced to go on pitocin and get an epidural as this would speed up labor and we could get the baby here faster since he was not doing well.

Well, when she came in, she checked me and I was still only 1 cm after 18 hours. I said, "ok, let's do a c-section." I knew that if my precious baby was not doing well in "early labor", I knew he would not tolerate hard labor. After we made the decision, everyone started "hoping to it"

I was rolled out of my room at 6:45 and put in the OR. I was given a "spinal" and they began the surgery and then let Joe in.

Our baby was born October 16th, at 7:14 pm and weighed 7 lbs and 14 oz and was 20" long.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Ok, so Friday I had a baby D scare, he wasn't moving very much. I tried everything and would get a half hearted attempt at movement. So called the docs and they told me to come on in. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor and sure enough the little squirt started moving. But he also had a lot of movements that I couldn't' feel. So doc did an ultrasound. The "problem" is three fold.

1. baby D moved to a head down position. He was diagonally from head to the left of my navel down to his feet in my left hip. So he swapped and put his head down in my hip and his little rear to the left of my navel.

2. I have an above average amount of amniotic fluid giving him PLENTY of room to move around in.

3. My placenta is still across the top of my stomach(kind of centered around my navel)

So those three things combined is what caused the concern. I also got some "startling" news. 1 is that the machine was estimating Baby D at 32-33 weeks (instead of 30+) and 2. estimating him to be 4.4lbs already. WHA????????? (yes, I deliberately left off the T)

So that was Friday.

This weekend DH and I got some shopping done. Bought a chenille rocker and ottoman for the nursery and the baby bedding. Since DH left for out of town on Sun, I went and got stocked up on diapers. LOVE coupons and specials. And the fact they were tax free this past weekend. So I think I am good for the first month or so. Have 3 boxes of 96ct each of newborn size and a box of 216 of size 1's.

On Monday evening about 8:00 I started having contractions. Quite an interesting feeling. I did everything to make them stop, and nothing seemed to work. Since they weren't "progressing" (getting stronger, coming closer together, etc), I knew they were Braxton hicks. I also could tell that I was not dilating or effacing so I wasn't concerned. So Tuesday morning i called the docs office to tell them that while I had a 3:30 appointment, I would come in sooner if they wanted me to due to the contractions. They had me come in. So they hooked me up to monitors one fetal and one for the contractions. Well, let me tell you. Baby D decided that it was time for him to work on his audition to RiverDance. He also had the hiccups while he was dancing. Quite interesting to listen to - I tell you. Even the doctor was laughing at him adn saying that we might just not be able to keep him on the monitor since he kept moving around so much. And I told her "see why I was concerned on Friday?"

This, of course, is NOT the first time that she has hinted around that my child is hyperactive. The last time, she politely asked if I had ingested some caffeine before coming in. I hadn't in weeks.

But I guess, like father, like son.

Oh - and I'm so excited - all my vitals were still in order and I had LOST A POUND in the two weeks since my last visit (am down to a visit every two weeks now instead of every four). Yay!! That means only 11lbs for the pregnancy!! yay!!

ok, so I watch Cnn's Headline News' Robin & Co while eating breakfast every morning. (I can tolerate her better than Fox & Friends). Anywhoo so I keep seeing all these reports about toxic toothpaste, lead paint in toys, pigs being fed sewer water, cows with so much antibiotics you can't make yogurt from their milk, fish and shrimp that have malachite green in them (an agent that helps the fish to live in toxic water), etc.

Now this morning we see the car from China. It won't be available until next year in the US, but has been released in Europe. The German equivalent to AAA did a car crash study. Click HERE and scroll down to tech YouTube video.

All I can say is wow!

Here is a great website with some commentary from normal folks. I am C&Ping a few of my favorites:

" Wow, what a great deal. You get a car and a coffin for one low price."

" Confucius say, 'Man who buy car at dollar store will get smashing good deal.'"

"I'm sooooo getting this car, for my mother-in-law" (could also apply to ex-wives, I guess)

Well, DH and I are back form our WONDERFUL Babymoon in Blowing Rock, NC. I will try and post a couple of pictures in a little bit.

It is so sad that 11 days later, rescuers are still searching for little Joshua Dorchak. If you are unfamiliar with this story, little 3 year old Joshua and his family were on an outing at Devil's Fork State Park on June 8th. he and his father went out on their 11 ft sailboat named the Pooh Bear. A large gust of wind overturned the boat and little Joshua (it is presumed) got caught up in the rigging of the boat and went down with the boat when it sank.

I have been keeping up with this story since I know the family as we attended the same parish in the upstate and attended the Latin Mass as they did.

In other news, we in Charleston woke up to the news that we lost 9 Firefighters last night in a blaze in the W. Ashley area of Charleston. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of these nine men who have died in "the worst single loss of firefighters since 9/11." A press conference is being held right now (2:00 pm EST) Watch it here

Friday, June 15, 2007

Every now and then, you just need to get a new toy. (That and the fact that I had a fairly modest settlement check from the sale of my home, burning a hole in my savings account.)

Anyhoo, I used to be fairly big into my photography. And was getting quite good and active before I met me sweet honey. So now we are looking at our little man on his way and realizing that both of us are big shutterbugs and there is no way we could pay the bills with umpteen rolls of film to purchase and develop on a monthly basis. For those of you with children - you know what I mean. Pictures of little Johnny's first gas smile, first poop, first snot nose bubble, etc...

Several years ago I said I was not going to digital - and I wasn't until "they" had decent SLR cameras with high resolution. Yes, I know picky, picky. but, I haven't touched a "point and shoot" since I left High School.

So after much deliberation, I chose this:

The Nikon D200. It looks like it is going to be an awesome camera. I haven't eve used Nikons before, having preferred Minoltas, but Minolta was purchased by Sony and hasn't really come out with anything new lately.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

And we are in shock. We had all been expecting a girl except for my dad and Joe. Joe is excited and is bouncing around like a 4 year old at a birthday party.

The baby is measuring 20 weeks 1 day which is right on target (and 1/2 way there!!!). There are no signs of hydrocephalus (water on the brain), Spina Bifida, Downs Syndrome, Cleft lip, etc. The kidneys are functioning normally which means that the digestive tract and esophagus are intact. We saw the heart and all four chambers beating normally, the spine looks great. There are 10 fingers and 10 toes and He was a mover! I actually felt him move during the ultrasound. At one point, you can see that he has his foot up by his head. We might have a toe sucker!! He is keeping his head just below my bellybutton and the placenta is right there between him and me which is probably why I haven't felt him before. As he continues to grow and be as active as his daddy (like he was during the ultrasound), we should really start feeling him soon.

Our next appointment is in 4 weeks and everything is looking great. I haven't gained anymore weight (still at 2 pounds!!!) and the baby right now weighs about 12 ounces.

The front runner for the name is Joshua Joseph. It has been a favorite of mine and Joe's since before we got married.

The other two names are: John Thomas (called John Thomas) and David Michael, but more than likely it will be Joshua Joseph Davis.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

So toady I had my third visit with my new doctor. She did a trans-abdominal instead of trans-vaginal ultrasound this time. The images are nearly as clear, but hopefully in the coming months they will get better.

Baby is now technically a "fetus" instead of an "embryo" (still baby to us! Here are some 10 week facts:

The head is half the length of the body.The arms and legs are long and thin.The hands can make a fist with fingers.Red blood cells are produced.The length is about 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 inches. The head is half the length of the body.

Here are our ultrasound photos from today:

This one is the cool one. Look at the bottom. That squiggly line is the heart beat of our baby:

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Here are the latest pictures of our baby. Baby is now measuring 7 weeks 5 days which puts us right in an October 5 through October 8th due date. We saw the heartbeat again AND got to hear it!!! The heartbeat is currently 164 bpm. It was awesome to hear that. When you think that your little one is somewhere between the size of a blueberry and a grape and you heart something as tiny as the heartbeat, it is amazing. If we go off the "old wives' tale" of fetal heartbeats, this baby would register as a girl. Joe is still hoping for a boy, and I just want a healthy baby. We still have about 3 more months to go before we learn the sex of the baby. (I don't think Joe can wait that long!)

Our doctor also have us a 4-D image of our baby.

If we were to somehow insert a camera in to see, this is what the baby would look like.

So, as you can see, we are moving right along.

Next week, our baby should look like this:

The doctor says we are progressing nicely and that I am to see her again in two weeks.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

First: The Medication I am on CLEARLY states on the bottle - DO NOT TAKE IF YOU ARE PREGNANT. Um.... the whole reason I am taking this is BECAUSE I am pregnant!!

Second: Prenatal Vitamins state to take with a full meal or full glass of water. So basically, I threw up my meal, now you want me to eat another one? Or am I to drink a whole glass of water which will either make me sick or have me up going to the bathroom for the rest of the night?

Third: Thinking of food makes you sick, looking at food makes you sick, smelling food makes you sick: yet you have to eat in order to not be sick.

Luckily I have only thrown up three times. Twice was meals including Shrimp - so I think I have to stay away form that one, and the third was my anti-nausea medicine (go figure that one).

I felt horrible Sunday night (b/c of what happened - not how I was feeling) as we went to 82 Queen after Mass to celebrate some dear friends of ours' 35th Wedding Anniversary. They hosted a party at 82 Queen, and it was wonderful. No sooner than I got to my car at the Cathedral, did I throw up my entire meal. Lovely. Didn't even make it to the grass. Luckily, We found a hose and Joe was able to hose it down to be respectful of others.

Today I should be 7 weeks 2 days. So Sunday passed the longest time I have been pregnant. I have an appointment tomorrow, so there should be another picture coming soon of the little one if all goes well.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Early this month, I got a suprise. And on Wednesday, Joe and I went to the doctor and got our first glimpse of our little surprise.

Yes, I am pregnant again. On Wednesday, I was 6weeks and 3 days pregnant. Our little one is about the size of a pea and already has it's heartbeat. My EDD is October 7th, so this will be a great little Second Anniversary present. My doctor has me on some medication, progesterone, to hopefully prevent a miscarriage by bumping up my progesterone levels, but there is never anything that will truly prevent a miscarriage.

We thought we would share the first pictures of our little one with you. (it is the grey bean inside the black pear looking shape)

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Like many Americans this morning, I woke up to discover my peanut butter was being recalled. I get up every morning and have my breakfast while watching the morning news (definetly need those traffic and weather reports), so while I'm munching away on my Peanut Butter Capt Crucnh with Soy Milk, I learn that ConAgra is recalling all Peter Pan and Great Value brands of peanut butter that begin with product code 2111.

Being the good little wife that I am, I get up and check our peanut butter. Sure enough it has 2111 on the label. My husband followed and looked longley at the pb and says " and we've already used it. Hate to make it go to waste."

So go home and check your labels and it just might save you from Salmonella.